El Super Goes On a Purchasing Rampage

​When I lived in North Hollywood, we were equidistant from two Mexican-owned markets: Vallarta and El Super. When we moved here to Anaheim, the Vallartas were replaced with Northgate González, but there was only one El Super, on McFadden in Santa Ana.

Lately, though, the simple sign ("cuesta menos") has been appearing hither and yon as El Super makes a big play for Orange County's Latino grocery loyalty.

First they bought up the Gigante chain, which means the great service at the Gigante on Euclid in Anaheim turned into the typical El Super service: few staff on the floor and bag-your-own checkout lines.

Today, as I headed to my nearest Mexican market, Fiesta Mexicana, I noticed the turquoise sign was gone, whited out. When I walked in to buy my yellow El Pato sauce, there it was: "cuesta menos," with the self-bagging checkouts at the front. El Super has bought the eleven-store Fiesta Mexicana (and Fiesta Warehouse) chain. They have cleaned the place up (it was a little run-down) but they've also changed the meat selection and that's not okay.

It's not that I dislike El Super. I just think it's not as nice as the places it's been supplanting, the service is barely adequate, and I prefer Northgate González for my chain Mexican market needs.